Solar Night
by readingflowers
Summary: Bella's little sister, Marina "Rina" Swan, moves to Forks after not seeing her for two years. What happens when Seth imprints on her? Set during Eclipse/ Breaking Dawn.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Twilight Saga**

_But now I'm told that this is life_

_And pain is just a simple compromise_

_So we can get what we want out of it_

_ -"Misguided Ghosts" by Paramore_

* * *

"Marina," my mother sighed as I pulled my suitcase down the stairs and out the front door, "you don't have to do this just because Bella did."

"Mom," I imitated her sigh, setting my bag on the pavement and helping her pull the heavy suitcase I packed. "Yes, I do. And aren't you the one that said I should spend more time with dad?"

She gave me a sad look and said, "That wasn't the dad I was talking about."

I looked over a Phil, who was merrily putting my suitcases into the trunk of the car, and back to my mom. "You know Phil and I don't get along well..."

Renee rolled her eyes (that were already filling up with tears) and helped with my other bags. "You just didn't give him enough time. I bet he would've warmed up to you."

"I set his favorite shirt on fire, he's about as warm as he can get."

"You come home whenever you feel you need to, okay? Tell Charlie...hi."

"Man, I hope I can remember that complex monologue."

Finally, the tears in her eyes spilled down her cheeks. "I just can't believe both of my babies are leaving me!"

"I'm not _leaving_ you, Mom, I'm just seeing Charlie...Dad."

"Alright!" Phil yelled from the car. "Everything's in, let's go, we got a plane to catch!"

"Tenth-to-last chance, Rina! You sure you don't want to stay?" my mom tempted.

"I'm positi-"

"Let's _go!_"

"_Phil!_ We are _having_ a _moment!_" I shouted over to him.

* * *

About two hours later, we finally reached my gate at the airport.

The hand that was squeezing my stomach for the past week suddenly clenched tighter, and it would probably get even worse over the two hour flight from Florida to Washington.

This was it. After sixteen years of living with my mother, I now get to live with my father.

Not to mention my sister. Bella turned eighteen and I haven't seen her since our last video chat which was last year. Her prehistoric computer crashed multiple times throughout the call and after a good three hours, we gave up and just stuck to the occasional phone calls.

"Once the plane lands I want you to call me or Phil and don't talk to any…weird people on that plane. Do you want me to tell an attendant this is your first time flying alone?" Renee asked, already starting to walk toward an attendant heading toward the tunnel.

"No, mom, I got this," I said pulling her back and into a hug. "Love you."

My mother squeezed me so much that I could feel her heartbeat. "I love you, too, Marina."

I usually get annoyed when my mom using my full name, but this time it filled me with sadness. I looked at Phil who just shifted from foot to foot, looking longingly at a "Sports Illustrated" magazine at one of the stands across the big hallway.

"Um, bye, Rin'." Not like I was expecting a big farewell from him, anyway. He gave me a one-armed hug and I was on my way to Forks, Washington.

* * *

The first few minutes inside of the cruiser were the most awkward moments of my life.

Charlie is not the kind of guy who makes up good conversations. Bella was at Edward's house when Charlie picked me up so I wouldn't see her for a couple more hours. Then we will go downtown and get dinner which will hopefully be less awkward.

An hour ride to Forks from the airport definitely didn't help, either. When he got the news that I wanted to come see him, he really did seem enthusiastic. And when I met him at the door of the airport, he was smiling so much that I just had to flash a grin back, but once the cruiser was loaded and we were on the highway, we quickly fell into awkward conversation.

"So how's Florida? Any different from Phoenix?"

"Not really. Same heat, just more alligators and less cacti, I guess."

"What about Phil? Your mother told me about the t-shirt incident. And the hat incident. And the-"

"Those," I began abruptly, "were accidents, mostly." Charlie gave me a look out of the corner of his eye, but I can see a smile crinkling his face. "I was lighting a candle and his shirt just got in the way. And the hat incident was entirely his fault! He left his hat on the chair-"

"Yeah, but you left the glue bottle uncapped and let it drip into it," Charlie replied. It was obvious that he wasn't too mad about it though since he was grinning. "I'm sure Bella told you about Edward, right?"

"She mentioned him. I know she's at his house right now."

"Yeah, well, he may or may not be with her when she comes home. And by 'may or may not', I mean he will be with her."

"They're pretty close then?"

"As close as Phil's hat to his head."

As we drove through Forks, I immediately realized how out of place I looked. Everyone was so pale here.

Since I live-or lived- in Phoenix and later Florida, I do have a tan. Not a full on California girl tan, but a tan nonetheless. My mother and sister tend to stay more on the paler side though. I have to admit though, my mother was getting darker. My dark blonde hair resembled the hair my grandmother on my mother's side of the family, yet I still had Charlie's chocolate brown eyes and a few light freckles on my cheeks.

I've been to Forks countless times when my parents first divorced. I remember going down to La Push with Charlie and Bella, although I didn't have good memories there. The last time I was here was when I was eleven and dorkier than ever.

But I guess I never remembered, or cared about, how pale everyone seemed, like they've never even seen the sun.

Yet, when we finally got home and I saw my old room, I was convinced I've never been to Forks in my life.

Pink bed, yellow walls, purple furniture and mirror, and countless little colorful knick-knacks. It looked like the room was doused in Skittles.

"You could make changes to it if you want," Charlie told me.

"This is really...colorful," I replied still staring.

Charlie let out a soft chuckle. "Well, you had a thing for the rainbow. We could change it if you like. I bet Billy has paint at his house. You remember Billy, don't you? He's Jacob Black's father. Him and Bella used to play all the time at La Push."

I grimaced when he said "La Push". One of my least favorite places in the world.

Charlie stayed in the room and helped me unpack while we stayed in an uncomfortable silence. After we got through half of my suitcase he suddenly perked up.

"Hey, you've been keeping up with the piano haven't you?" he asked, heading towards the door.

I gave a short nod and straightened my back from leaning over my suitcase.

Of course I was keeping up with the piano. I fell in love with the instrument once my mother got me into lessons. Bella begged to not take lessons anymore, saying it was the most boring instrument ever. I agreed with her for the first few lessons but once I played a full song it was like I would never love anything more than the piano. And that was just 'Mary had a Little Lamb'.

When I decided to come to Forks, I thought that I would only see a piano in the school music room. I kissed my beautiful living room piano (I named her Claire) in Florida goodbye just a few hours ago.

"I've got a surprise for you then!"

We headed downstairs and into the living room where in the corner, an old wooden piano stood against the wall. It looked like it hadn't been used in years, but it was still a piano more or less, and it filled me with a giddiness that I thought would never come to me once I left Florida.

"Oh gosh, did you _buy_ this for me?" I asked, already reaching out to touch it.

"Well, not _newly_ bought if that's what you mean. But I did buy it from Sue. We may have to tune it though, she hasn't used it ever since her kids quit it years ago. It might be a little rusty."

_Sue?_ I thought. The name rang a bell but I couldn't remember a face to match it.

"Yeah," I agreed. "But this is amazing, thank you so much!"

* * *

After many thank-you's, hundreds of hugs, and two or three songs on the piano, Charlie and I went back up to my room to finish unpacking. We talked about how far in my lessons I had gotten and when we could go to a store to buy more sheet music. I began running through my head all the names I could give it. Definitely not something too fancy. I wanted it to match how the piano looked.

About an hour later the front door opened and someone was walking up the steps.

"Charlie? Did you pick up Rina yet?" a voice said from downstairs.

"We're up here, Bella!" Charlie shouted down.

I walked out of my room and stopped at the top of the stairs. Bella wasn't alone. Someone who probably resembled Adonis was standing next to her.

No kidding, he looked like a walking statue of a god. His skin seemed to be so white that I would've guessed that he had seen a ghost, yet the paleness worked on him. He had copper hair that shined a lot in the lighting of the house. Even though he was wearing a couple layers of clothing, I could tell he was muscular but not _too_ muscular like a body-builder.

Even thought I couldn't stop looking at him, I had a feeling that this guy was too perfect. The kind of perfect that no one could ever be. I bet that he even acted perfect, with amazing manners that Renee would love and the right amount of charm and modesty that made all the girls' panties drop.

So I decided that I did not like this guy and his perfection and I decided that I did not trust him at all.

"Hi, Bella," I said, walking down the stairs and giving a pointed look at who was probably Edward Cullen.

"Rin!" Bella smiled and hugged me. "You got your braces off! Are you using contacts now?"

I turned my head towards her while still glaring at Edward. "Yeah, I don't look like a total nerd now."

"God, you're even taller than me! How tall are you?"

I got off the step so the change wasn't so drastic. "5'8" maybe?"

Bella smiled. "I want you to meet Edward."

"Hello, Marina. Bella told me a lot about you." Edward held out his pale hand that looked like it was carved out of marble.

I frowned a bit. "It's Rina. And she did?"

He gave a low laugh. "Don't worry, not much of the bad stuff. You play piano, don't you?"

I looked at his hand and slowly took it, only to be greeted by a hand that must've been shoved in an ice box before I shook it. "You're really cold."

He put his hand in his pocket and his other arm around Bella. "I play, too. Maybe I could give you a lesson sometime."

"Or I could give you one," I replied. Edward gave a short laugh but his smile fell when he saw that I wasn't being all that sarcastic.

"Well," Bella said, breaking the silence. "We better get ready. We're going to the diner downtown, right?"

"Yup," Charlie answered, popping the 'p'.

Edward gave Bella a kiss on the head and started towards the door. Before he closed it, though, he turned to me. His eyes were a black color and I couldn't help but drop my glare and feel a bit frightened of him.

"Welcome to Forks."


	2. Chapter 2

_But it was not your fault but mine_

_And it was your heart on the line_

_I really fucked it up this time_

_Didn't I, my dear?_

_ -"Little Lion Man" by Mumford and Sons_

* * *

La Push.

The beach where I used to spend most of my summer afternoons with What's-His-Face Waters, was the same as I remembered; cold.

There was wind whipping around everywhere, making my hair seem like I was standing next to a helicopter, and I remembered how I used to hate it here.

What's-His-Face used to make fun of me. He would pull my pigtails and make fun of my glasses. While Bella and Jacob made mud pies, I was being splashing by water and getting sand thrown at my face.

Why would I want to come back here? I don't. But Bella does. Jacob and she have been sending notes to each other like kids in middle school do but through our dads. I guess Jacob is upset with her or something so she made me come with her to visit, but it didn't seem that way when we parked.

"Bella?"

"Hey, Jake!"

"Bella! I can't believe it!" He yanked her out of the truck and they both started jumping up and down like schoolgirls who just got asked out.

"How did you get here?"

"I snuck out!"

"_Awe_some!"

Snuck out? What? Bella wasn't grounded. Though she did seem a bit on edge on the drive here.

"Who's that?" Jacob asked, nodding over at me.

"That's Rina, Jake," Bella replied. She gave him a "Don't-comment-on-the-change" look but he completely ignored her and let his jaw drop. I awkwardly shouldered my bag and shrugged.

"_Rina?!_ What? No way! That's not Rina. You meant Rina your sister, right?" Jacob exclaimed, squinting at me.

Bella hit him lightly and said, "_Yes_, Rina my sister!"

"Hey, Bella!" yelled Billy from the doorway. "And who's that?"

"That's Rina, dad!" Jacob yelled back, still a bit shocked.

"Rina? Welcome back!" Billy said.

"Hey, Bil-ah!"

Before I could finish the greeting, Jacob yanked me into a hug far too tight for me to breathe. Just when I thought that the hug couldn't get any worse, he started to swing me around like a doll.

"It's good to see you!"

I choked for air in response and he put me down and my hand flew to where I swear I felt my spine snap in half.

"Welcome back, Rina. You, too, Bella." He gave a smile that stood out more with his russet skin and Bella smiled back while I tried to get my spinal cord to where it should be.

* * *

I have to admit, I couldn't wait to get out of there.

Before coming here, I tried to tell Bella that I got food poisoning from the dinner yesterday night, but she had the exact same thing I had. I even chewed up Cheerios and spit them out in the garbage to pass as vomit but she wasn't fooled.

After Jacob pulled Bella into his swinging, spine-breaking hug, they started walking towards the garage. I made an excuse saying I wanted to see the beach and left them alone.

The sand was wet and mushy on the beach and kept getting all over my shoes. Driftwood and puddles were scattered all over the place. I looked down into a puddle to see my reflection.

How did this happen to me? I used to be the geeky little girl with glasses and braces and her hair always frizzy and in her face. Somehow I convinced my mom to get me contacts and my braces came off sooner or later and I got a new haircut, one without bangs that always get tangled up and flop all over my face. I even started to get hair tools like straighteners and curlers and used bits of makeup sometimes.

The baby fat that filled my face somehow disappear in what seems like overnight, making my cheekbones stand out more. They weren't high cheekbones, but they were high enough to be noticed, like Bella's.

Now I'm looking into the face of Rina Swan. Not Tin Grin or Chubby Cheeks or Four-Eyes.

My friend back home, Samantha, used to call me Ducky and when someone asked why, she would say because I'm like the Ugly Duckling that turned into that Swan. Rina Swan.

I worked so hard these past couple years, climbing up the food chain in school. Once I finally got the top spot in popularity, I decided to move. Not because I wanted to catch up with Charlie and Bella, but because popularity was nothing like I imagined.

Sure, when you're popular you can do whatever you'd like. Shouting out in class is no longer my problem. I had a big group of friends and we were invited to parties, the best parties.

I never liked any of it. I never wanted to go to any of the parties. I would've stayed home if I could and just watch TV. When Bella left, my mom sulked for a couple of days. I talk to my mom a lot but I could tell she wanted to be alone, so I had to make do with reality TV. I started drawing, too. It wasn't that bad, I actually really enjoy it, even if I'm horrible at it. I signed up for art class and had an Art Show at the school that my friends and family would all come to.

I became attached to my piano even more. I bought more sheet music after Bella left, using the money that I saved up from my allowance of ten bucks a week. For my birthday, my mom bought a grand piano. It was used, of course, but it was still beautiful.

My favorite place in all of Florida was the library. I hadn't seen one library since I've come here. It's always quiet there and safe, confined by books. The fiction books were my favorite. I would take one randomly off the shelf and sit by a heating vent- wait.

Why is there a man staring at me?

Across the beach, there was a tall man. He looked a bit like Jacob but not exactly. He wore a gray t-shirt and jeans, which should have made him freeze to death on the spot, but instead he was just standing there, watching me with a smile like he's just been touched by God. He looked as though he was going to collapse onto his knees, though.

I was right.

He took one step forward and fell.

I looked around to see if anyone was going to help him up, but we were the only ones on the beach. Slowly, I started to make my way towards him.

Up close, I could see that he actually wasn't a man, but someone around my age, maybe a year or two older. I kneeled down in front of him so I could see his face more.

"Are you okay?" I asked unsure.

He just sat there staring at my face. I don't have something on it, do I?

"Hello?" I waved my hand in front of his eyes. "Are you feeling okay? Should I call 9-1-1?"

"SETH!" a voice shouted from behind the guy. A girl started to storm over. She looked muscular and powerful. Her voice was strong and intimidating, but she had a very pretty face. When she saw me, she faltered, but then her pace fastened and soon enough she was standing over me.

"Who're you?" she demanded.

"R-Rina Swan," I stuttered under her stare.

"Rina? You're back?" Before I could answer she went on. "What have you done to Seth?" she growled.

The guy, Seth, was still staring at my face.

"I didn't do anything, I was just over there and he fell so I tried to help him," I rushed out.

The girl scoffed and I stood up. She was a couple inches taller than me, maybe 5'11". "I _really_ didn't do anything! He just fell!"

She began to walk closer to me until we stood nose-to-nose. As she opened her mouth to spit insulting words at me, three boys ran up to the scene. They seemed to be laughing and shoving each other around until they saw Seth on the ground and the girl growling at me.

"Leah, back off!" one of them barked. He was a big, muscular guy. The kind I wouldn't even dare to make eye contact with, afraid he would take offense to it and flick me to the end of the state.

The girl, Leah, gave him an annoyed look and backed off. The two other boys kneeled down next to Seth and started waving their hands like I did, except they were chuckling like the situation was totally fine.

"Is he okay?" I asked awkwardly.

"Oh, yeah," one of them said, "he's fine. I'm Quil." He stood up, shaking his pants to get sand off of them.

"Rina," I replied. "What's wrong with him?"

"Rina?" the big one said. "Rina Swan? You're Bella's sister?"

"Yes."

"What?" the one on still kneeling said. "But you look so differ-"

"I know," I snapped. He looked a bit taken back from my change in confidence. I was, too. I knew that someone other then Bella and Charlie would take notice in my appearance change but I didn't think about how to react to it.

"Sorry," I muttered.

The kneeling one shook his head out of his shock and flashed a quick grin. "No harm done. I'm Embry and that's Sam."

I gave a small smile and looked back at Seth who still seemed to be in a daze, though his head was down now.

"He's going to be okay, right? He looked like he's going to be sick," I remarked.

"No, really," Quil said. "He'll be fine."

"Rina?" I heard my name being called from the direction I came from. I turned to see Bella and Jacob running onto the beach. Bella's eyes flashed over to Seth and back to me. "Wha- What have you done?"

"I didn't do anything!" I protested again. Quil and Embry snickered.

Jacob did a once-over of Seth who was still staring at me. He leaned over to Bella and said, "_This_ is a perfect example."

Bella's eyes widened. "You mean he-"

"Shh!" Jacob cut her off.

"On my _sister!_" she yelled. "_No!_ No, Seth, undo it! Undo it right _now!_"

"Undo what? What happened?" I asked quickly while Quil and Embry bursted into a roar of loud laughter.

"Rina," Jacob said, stepping forward. Bella looked like she was about to pull Jacob back for a second but decided against it. "You remember Seth, right? You guys used to hang out. Seth Clearwater."

Seth Clearwater.

What's-His-Face Waters.

_Seth. Clearwater._

I looked down at the boy on his knees. Suddenly, his face looked familiar. It was the face that twisted up into laughter whenever I was pushed to the ground. The face that pretended to cry when my father came to see why I was yelling at him. The face that I was dreading to see.

It was Seth freaking Clearwater's face.

"Seth?" I growled.

Seth came out of his daze, shaking his head a little, and focused on me again. "Hey, what's your na-"

"_Seth?_" I hissed again. He didn't recognize me, did he?

"Really? That's my name," he replied, getting up off his knees. He was maybe six inches taller, but that didn't make me any less angry.

"No, Seth," Jacob said, cutting in. He put his hand on my shoulder, which I rather roughly shook off. "It's Rina. Marina Swan, remember?"

"Rina," he repeated, lazily and slowly like he was savoring the sound of it. "Rin-wait. _Rina?!_ Rina _Swan?_"

"Let's go." I took Bella's hand and started pulling her back to Jacob's house.

I knew I had a bad temper and I didn't want Embry and Quil to have another reason to blow up with laughter.

"Oh, God. Wait! Marina, wait!" I heard Seth yelling behind me.

"Seth," Sam shouted to him "We're going back."

"I'll catch up," Seth told him, waving him off. "Don't wait up, Leah."

Leah huffed at him and followed Sam and the others. I still had Bella's hand in a death grip, practically dragging her.

"Rina, maybe you should talk to him," Jacob suggested, jogging after us with Seth.

"No," Bella and I both replied.

"I really am sorry, Rina," Seth said. "I want to make it up to you."

"No."

"C'mon, it's been like thirty years, let me talk to you," he pressed on. "Give me two minutes, just two minutes, please."

Jacob gave a shocked gasp and I turned my head back a little to see his fake shocked expression. "He said 'please'. Rina, you know how magical that word is."

"I'm not a six year old anymore, Jake," I reminded him.

"Well, you sure are acting like one."

I cringed at the thought that that was the impression I was sending off. In a quick movement, I pivoted on the wet sand and stormed up to Seth, my face red with anger and my fists balled up. I hoped steam wasn't coming out of my ears.

"One minute," I said.

"Two."

"Fifty seconds."

"What? No, two minutes," he protested.

"Forty seconds."

"She's just going to keep on going," Bella said in a "so-typical-of-you" voice.

"Okay, fine. One minute." Before I could protest, he started talking. "Look, I'm really sorry for pushing you around back then, but I really have changed...a lot and I mean, _a lot_. We were just kids then, I hardly even knew how to tie my shoes, much less talk to girls. I thought you had cooties or whatever, but if you give me the chance, maybe we can be friends. I swear I won't throw sand at you or pull your hair or spit in your food-"

"_You spit in my food?!_" I half-yelled.

"Yes, but I won't do that anymore and at least I'm being honest, right? Don't I get a couple extra points for that?"

I growled in response and tried not to give into the urge of pushing him down. I turned my head behind me only to see that Bella and Jacob were leaving the beach. I started to follow but Seth grabbed my arm gently, not pulling it.

"Wait, I still have twenty seconds," he said.

"You're actually counting?" I retorted.

"It's important to me." The look in his eyes said he was being completely serious. I let my face soften a bit and my mouth set into a frown. I pulled my arm out of his grasp and crossed both of them.

"Go on," I beckoned.

"Come to my house for dinner. You remember my mom, right?"

"No."

"Sue."

I remembered Charlie mentioning her. "Oh, she gave me your old piano. And Harry, right?"

Seth's face fell a little. "Um, no. My dad died from a heart attack recently."

"Oh, God," I mumbled, startled that I hit a sensitive subject. "I'm sorry, Charlie didn't-"

"You can come to dinner to make up for it," Seth suggested, grinning again.

All regret vanished and I was, once again, disgusted by Seth Clearwater. "You pig, you can't do that!"

"Is there a rule?"

"You are so _annoying!_" I turned back towards the road and began walking fast, but Seth kept up just as easily as before. "I can't believe that you even have the _guts_ to ask me to your house! You, Seth Clearwater, are the perfect epitome of idiocy!"

"Epitome?"

"Ugh! You," I turned around and pointed sternly to his feet, "stay!"

His grin only widened. "Am I a dog to you?" The question seemed to amused him and he started laughing like Quil and Embry.

I grumbled a string of curses and jogged across the damp road, Seth still following.

"Please, Marina?" I started to protest against him using my full name but he went on. "I swear on my mom's coffee that you won't regret it."

"Your mom's coffee?"

"It's really good coffee!" he insisted.

"I hate coffee."

"No coffee then. Just Capri-Sun!"

I'll admit, I grinned a bit, and I could practically smell how proud Seth was that he cracked me.

"Don't use my full name. And fine. But the second you start acting like you're normal jerk self, I'm leaving," I told him.

I turned to say good-bye until dinner but he was hardly listening. Instead, he was dancing at the side of the road.

**R&R!**


	3. Chapter 3

_Your mind is restless_

_They say you're getting better_

_But you don't feel any better_

_ -"Hearing Damage" by Thom Yorke_

Three hours later, I stood before the full-length mirror in Bella's room, looking at the outfit I had picked out for dinner with the Clearwater's.

I immediately decided that I would not wear a dress or any kind of clothing that could easily show underwear. So I just dressed into a pair of jeans and and a striped tank top with a leather jacket on top.

"Need me to drive you?"

In the mirror's reflection, I saw Charlie standing in the doorway, a bowl of cereal in his hand as his make-do dinner since Bella was at the Cullens' house and I was going to Seth's.

I turned to him. "Yeah, that'd be great." I grabbed my bag from Bella's bed and started to head down the stairs, Charlie behind me.

"So, Seth Clearwater, huh?" Charlie said, putting his bowl in the sink on the way to the car and grabbing the keys.

"Dad, don't do this," I begged.

"Do what?" he asked innocently as we got into the car.

"The whole 'So, you're going out with this guy?' sha-bang. We aren't going out and I don't think we ever will."

Charlie grunted and turned the key in the ignition. "Shame. He's a good kid. His father and I used to fish a lot together." He paused before saying, "He died a while ago from a heart attack."

I looked over at Charlie as we started down the road to the Clearwater's house. He was looking straight ahead at the road with a blank expression on his face. I didn't want to reply by saying that Seth told me himself about his dad, but I also didn't want to give him a pity party. If I was anything like my dad, I would hate to delve on such a sad topic.

So instead I stayed quiet for a few moments as if to be taking a moment of silence for Harry Clearwater. Three minutes passed before I said:

"Oh, I forgot. Mom says hi."

"What?" Charlie asked, looking a bit shocked. "Renee?"

"Yup, she told me to say hi to you for her."

"Oh...well, hi back."

* * *

"Rina."

"Hi. Leah, right?"

"Yeah."

"Um...is Seth home?"

"Yeah."

"Can I see him maybe?"

"Why? So you can bring him to his knees again?"

I crinkled my eyebrows. "That wasn't me, that was himself."

"Rina?" A new voice came from behind Leah and a woman showed up in the doorway, nudging Leah back. She had a thin face, like Leah, and black, short hair and dark eyes. "I'm Sue, Seth's mom. I'm sure you don't remember me from way back when. I used to make you cookies when you came over."

I smiled and nodded. "I remember. You had a wicked recipe."

Sue laughed and welcomed me inside. "Seth has been talking about you non-stop ever since he came home. He's in his room right now, probably deciding on what shirt to wear."

"He's been getting ready for like two hours," Leah grumbled.

Two hours? I looked down at my plain outfit that I spent thirty minutes on.

"You can go knock on his door and tell him dinner's ready, if you'd like," Sue said. "Straight down the hall, last right."

I gave another short nod and started down the hall. All over the walls were pictures of the family: Sue, Leah, and Seth. There was only one picture of Harry. He was alone in the picture and looked as happy as ever with a fishing line in one hand and a live fish in the other. Next to that one was a picture of a young Leah with only one front tooth.

I even saw a picture with me in the background, taken years ago. It was of Leah and another kid who were both smiling at the camera. In the back was me and Seth on the beach, kicking sand around. The shot made it look like we were BFFs, but we were probably aiming for each other's faces.

The last door on the right was decorated with signs that said 'BEWARE OF DOG' and 'LEAH, STAY.'. I could hear someone walking around inside, so I lifted by knuckle and knocked.

"Leah, not now," answered a muffled voice from inside.

"It's Rina," I said.

The footsteps stopped and then there was suddenly a lot of fumbling going on in the room. After ten long seconds, the door swung open and there was Seth, dressed in dark jeans and a blue button-down shirt.

He stared at me for what seemed like forever. A small smile was forming on his lips. For a second I thought he was going to start laughing at me.

Not going to sugar-coat it, but I was gullible when I was younger and I would believe anything Seth said. He once told me about water monsters snapping up children who got close enough to them and I stayed out of the ocean for days. Seth would always wait until I finally figured it out for him let his small smile turn into a grin like the Cheshire Cat's and would start laughing at me.

_'Ha! Rina actually thought I would want to have dinner with her! What a dork! _

But this time, he just smiled.

"Rina," he finally said, stepping out of his room when I took a step back.

"Seth," I imitated. I clutched the strap of my bag for dear life.

"You're here."

"Was I supposed to come later-"

"No! No, stay. With me.

I raised an eyebrow, but Seth didn't explain himself. So we just stood there in his hallway, staring at each other. I guess I never really noticed how much depth Seth's eyes had. I used to just think they were just a boring brown, but now that I really looked, they had darker flecks of brown (and even black) in them. They seemed kind of like a web, going deeper and deeper into his eye. It was only until I felt his breathe on my face that I realized I had leaned forward a bit to get a better look.

I pulled back. "Um, your mom said dinner's ready," I told him, remembering what I came here for.

Seth shook his head slightly and started down the hall. "Right, dinner. Hope you like chicken."

"Oh, my god."

* * *

"I am so sorry, Sue," I apologized for the fifteenth time.

"Rina, it's fine," Sue said as she poured the raw spaghetti into a boiling water pot. She turned to me with her normal smile. "It was a mistake, everybody makes them."

"I should of told Seth I'm a vegetarian," I mumbled.

"You should've," Leah agreed as she got another piece of chicken and stormed back to the dining room.

Seth stared after her before he turned back to me. "It's okay, Rin. I should've asked if you had food preferences or whatever you call it."

"Let me help you, Sue," I stood up. "I can make the sauce."

"Yeah, we got this, mom," Seth said, standing up and walking to my side. "We can make the food, you go eat your chicken with Leah."

Sue looked from me to Seth to me again.

"Don't worry, I'm an expert at spaghetti," I reassured her. She laughed and handed me the wooden spoon she was holding.

"Okay but be careful." She took her chicken and went to the dining room to sit with Leah.

"So you're vegetarian?" Seth questioned, getting out another pan for the sauce.

"Yup."

"Why?"

"Ever hear of slaughter houses?"

Seth grimaced. "Good point. By the way, I have no idea how to make spaghetti sauce."

"You got any jars of it?"

"I don't think so. We got tomatoes though, if you can use that."

"That'd be good."

"Three tomatoes for the veggie-eater, coming up." Seth did a sort of weird spinning dance move towards the refrigerator. "How long have you played the piano for?"

"About seven years."

"Man, then you must have the talent, huh?"

I shrugged. "I guess. You got a talent?" _Besides terrorizing little girls._

"Well," Seth came up to my side with the three tomatoes in his hands, "I am a _fantastic_ juggler."

I narrowed my eyes at him and smirked. "I don't believe you."

"What, do I not have the juggler body?"

"No, you don't," I replied, poking his big muscly arms with the wooden spoon. "No muscle."

Seth's jaw dropped. "You kidding? Welcome to the Gun Show, Miss Swan."

Putting the tomatoes on the counter, Seth lifted his arms and flexed his muscles, which weren't as big as that guy on the beach, Sam's, but not as small as the tomatoes either. Kind of like Edward, I guess. All through the "show" I kept my face emotionless, even if they were right in my face.

"And now for the grand finale!" Seth picked up the tomatoes and began juggling them, quite slowly I may add.

"Oh, c'mon, that's not juggling, that's just throwing tomatoes up and catching them. You have to go faster," I protested.

"Fine!" Seth threw the tomatoes faster, but he also threw them too high and one of them hit the ceiling, spraying tomato juice all over me.

"Seth!" I yelled. Tomato juice was now squirted all over my clothes and seeds speckled my hair.

"Oh, god. Rina, I-"

Before Seth could even say another word, I grabbed one of the tomatoes from his hands and squeezed it over his head.

"-am so _not_ sorry," Seth finished, taking the last tomato. Before he could throw it though, I grabbed his hand to stop it, which only led to it get squished in both of our hands.

Instead of being as mad as I was about the whole mess, Seth was laughing his butt off. I let go of his hand, putting the squished tomato on the counter, and stepped back. Seth was hunched over, hands holding his stomach as he laughed harder. I grabbed a dish towel from the counter and began cleaning myself up.

"What's so funny? We made a mess," I told him, throwing the towel on his head.

"Exactly!" Seth said, but he was laughing too hard so it came out like "Exhaaackly!

"You know what this reminds me of? Remember when I came over that one time and it was raining so hard and you threw mud at my face and we had that gigantic mud fight?"

"I remember _you_ throwing the mud at _my_ face," I said tightly, throwing out the wrecked tomatoes. Maybe I should just have buttered pasta.

Seth stopped laughing. "I told you I'm sorry about all that," he said quietly. His eyes were looking at the floor which had tomato juice all over it. "Are you going to hate me forever?"

My eyebrows crinkled as I wondered if I would. He made my visits to my dad a living hell and nobody even noticed. Even if it was when we were so young, it would still count as bullying. And the victim should hate the bully for as long as they live, right? Even if the bully invites them over to their house to have dinner. But Seth didn't seem anything like a bully at all now.

I just shrugged.

Seth nodded and picked up another rag to help me clean. It was silent for a while after that, us just cleaning and waiting for the pasta to be done.

"Do you go to the high school on the rez?" I asked, finished cleaning the floor and grabbing a chair to help me clean the ceiling.

"Yeah. I guess you're going to be going to Forks High School, huh?" Seth asked. His voice had a kind of sadness to it. Maybe he thought that I really, _really_ hated him. Isn't that what I wanted though? Then why did it make me feel so bad?

"I am. I guess it would've been nice to know someone."

"Please, everyone will love you," he said, smiling again.

I stared at him with an incredulous look. "You changed a lot, Seth. And that's coming from me."

The water in the pot started to steam a lot, so I turned the stove off and brought the pot to the sink.

"How so?" he asked, helping me with the heavy pot.

"You're really optimistic now."

"Maybe you're just pessimistic," he countered.

I glared at him. "Just get some bowls."

* * *

"Do you like wolves?"

After eating our plain spaghetti, Seth and I went out to the beach. Teenagers and families were scattered around the place, but mostly near the center, so Seth led us to the side where the forest meets the beach.

"Wolves?" I said, kicking at some green pebbles.

Seth nodded as he picked up a pebble that I kicked near him. "Yeah. Or just dogs in general, I guess."

"Yeah, I like them. Why? Do you have one?" I remembered the 'BEWARE OF DOG' sign that was on his bedroom door but there was no dog in the house, as far as I could tell.

"Kind of. What about big dogs?"

"Like Rottweilers?" I asked.

"No, more like Clifford the Big Red Dog," he replied. I looked at him to see if he was smiling, but his face was straight.

"Um, I don't know. I never met a dog that big."

Seth looked a bit disappointed at my answer, like I should've met a huge red dog before.

"Is your dog that big?" I asked.

He just shook his head and laughed. Was that a stupid question?

I frowned a bit. "I told Charlie that he could pick me up at nine. We should head back."

Seth looked a bit panicked as he realized what time it was. He started talking quickly as I started heading up to the road. "Do you start school tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I do." A pang of nervousness hit my stomach, kind of like at the airport.

"I can pick you up, if you'd like. We could hang out at my house then."

"You can pick me up?"

"I have a way of getting around."

"Oh." Not going to lie, I was jealous of Seth. "Um, it depends if I have a lot of homework, I guess."

"I'll text you then." And with that, he took my phone out of my back pocket and faster then I could say "What the hell?" he added in his number into my contacts and put mine into his.

* * *

Bella and I left early for school the next day. After Charlie had the left the house, we sat for a while at the square oak table in the kitchen eating breakfast. When we both finished getting ready, we still had twenty-five more minutes until school started. Bella suggested watching TV but I already had too many jitters to just sit still, so we left.

When we got to the high school, Bella dropped me off at a building that said FRONT OFFICE on the door. I walked quickly to the door and into the warm air in the office. A woman with red-hair sat at a desk that cut the room in half.

"Hello," she said. "Can I help you?"

"I'm Rina Swan. I'm new here and this is my first day...," I dragged on like this should be her cue so get up and hand me stacks of papers that could somehow help me through my first day.

And she did exactly what I imagined. She riffled through some papers on her desk and brought out the ones she needed. "Here is your schedule and a map if you get lost. I highlighted routes to each of your classes for you. And I need you to have each of your teachers sign this slip and bring it back at the end of the day."

I nodded (Bella already told me that she was going to make me do this) and started back out the door. More people had arrived by now, all in groups and all talking. I followed most of them to my first class, my map if my hands to make sure I wasn't going the wrong way.

Finally I made it to my class, AP History. One of the two AP classes I was going to be taking this year, along with English. While everyone else took their seats, I walked to the teacher and gave her the slip to sign.

"Ah, Marina Swan. Isabella's sister, right?" she asked. "I'm Mrs. Addlom."

"Rina."

The same thing happen in the rest of my classes. The teacher will introduce themselves, hand me some books, and then have me sit in an empty desk that was usually in the back. In most of the classes, a girl or two near me would start a conversation about how Florida is and if I'm going to be staying here. None of them bothered that much to walk with me to the next class, even if they were going in the same direction.

That was, until fifth period. A girl from my trig class came up behind me in the hallway.

"Hey, you're Marina Swan, right? Or Rina?" she asked. She was several inches shorter than me and had the most perfect teeth I've ever seen. Her hair was a brownish-reddish color and her eyes were a green that really popped out. "I'm Claire."

_Like my piano in Florida. _I smiled at her. "Hi. How'd you know it's just Rina?"

"Gossip spreads fast in a small school." She smiled. "Do you have lunch next?"

It took me a moment to remember what I had next. I didn't want to fumble with my backpack and pull out my schedule in the middle of the hall. "Yeah, I do."

"Me too. You're not sitting with anyone, are you? Because you can totally sit with us. I was new a couple years ago in middle school and I had to sit by myself during lunch. Nightmare, I know."

A surge of relief rushed through me. "That'd be great, thanks."

We walked to the cafeteria building in silence. There was a table that was near the middle of the cafeteria that Claire led me to. About ten other people were already seated there. I saw Bella at the other end of the cafeteria sitting with Edward and others that I haven't met. She gave a small smile when she saw me.

"So why Forks?" a girl at the table asked. I didn't know her name.

"What do you mean?"

"You lived in Florida, didn't you? Why move to Forks?"

I shrugged. "My dad, I guess."

The girl seemed a bit miffed by my answer, like I should've just said 'Because I'm a talent scout and I want _you _to be in my next big movie'.

"Do you need help getting to your next class?" a boy to my right asked. He was in my French class and I think his name is Derek, but I'm not sure.

"Nah, I passed by it on my way here. I have biology next."

"Oh, me too!" Claire said. "You're probably going to sitting alone, though. There's an odd number of students now."

"Well, I made it this far," I joked. I got at least three people to laugh, but it seemed like it was out of pity.


End file.
